Jeff Murray from Gove Tackle World in the N.T. sent me a report about a trial tournament in Gove that they ran for the 18 & 19th of Feb. It was a no frills comp and had a very basic rules system but did incorporated the GFAA rules and regulations. They had 12 teams enter, most of which had never run lures before. There were approximately 30 bites for the 2 days with a total of 3 fish tagged all of which were tagged on the first day. There were a few Black Marlin well over 100kg hooked but most of them fell off unfortunately. It was a very big learning curve for many as it was hard to keep the fish attached.

First fish tagged was by the boys on STREAKERS DEFENCE who tagged and released a Black Marlin estimated at 400 pounds off the Brombie Islands. The second fish tagged was a Sailfish tagged by the CAUSE FOR DIVORCE team, which was estimated at 25kg and was caught off Higginson Island on a Pakula Small Sprocket. The third fish was caught by the team on RANDALL and included myself (Jeff Murray) and Rob McDonald. The fish was caught at Cape Wilbureforce being Sailfish of 15kg on a Pakula Blue Kona Rat. With 2 minutes to cease fishing we tagged the sailfish 1.5 minutes from the hookup.

Murray Knyvett with a nice little Black Marlin

One of the other club members from the Nhulunbuy Regional Sport Fishing Club was close at hand with one of 2 remaining Satellite Tags ready to be deployed. Jeff passed the Sailfish over to the crew on Pheonix while it was still attached to the rod. A nice extra piece of jewelry was added. In 90days we will eagerly be awaiting the data as this is one of many that the club has been involved with the tag and release.

There were some hard luck stories as well as the team on STABICRAFT spent 4 1/2 hours on a Black Marlin estimated well over 100kg and a short length of (3meters est.) only for it to bust off just out of leaders reach.

Result categories:
Champion Team - STREAKERS DEFENCE
Champion Team Runner Up - CAUSE FOR DIVORCE
Meritorious Capture Award - Amy Green (First Billfish)

This event was supported so well that they be making it an inaugural event with a perpetual Trophy. Jeff Murray would like to thank all the sponsors, Pakula Tackle and Shimano & the fantastic support from the Nhulunbuy Regional Sport Fishing Club.

Amy Green with her first Sailfish on board Cause For Divorce

Thank you to Jeff Murray from Gove Tackle World for sending us the results.

If you have any reports or photos to share please send to reports@gamefishinghub.com.au

Ross Hunter reports from on board Broad Bill that they have tagged 14 Marlin in 4 days of fishing as well as some giant Mahi Mahi.  Rod Findlay on Murrifin is catching 3 Marlin a day on average although the large number of boats are making it hard unless you drive like a duck through the pack. Rod caught a 102kg Blue Marlin yesterday on 24kg although unfortunately the fish was tail wrapped and died.

Results for the Luhrs Billfish Shootout 2012 are as follows:

A total of 96 boats entered this year with 443 anglers competing for some fantastic cash and prizes. There was 17 Blue Marlin tagged, 19 Black Marlin tagged and 153 Striped Marlin tagged with only 10 Marlin captured.

Striped Marlin caught on The Force.

Tag & Release Final Standings
1st Place: Gunrunner - 149500 pts
2nd Place: The Force - 11200 pts
3rd Place: Calypso - 99000 pts
4th Place: Diversion - 92000 pts
5th Place: Pelagic - 80000 pts
6th Place: Anarchy - 63000 pts
7th Place: Shakara - 61500 pts
8th Place: Born Free - 57500 pts C/B
9th Place: Tonlu 2 - 57500 pts C/B
10th Place: Smart Bill - 57500 pts C/B
Champion Female Junior: Amy McAndrew - 43000 pts
Champion Male Junior: Ethan Henderson - 23000 pts
Heaviest Marlin: BA'JA 236kg Blue Marlin
Peter Goadby Award went to Viking 2

The Force with Captain Shayne Wilson at the helm backing down on another Marlin.

If you have any reports or photos to share please send to reports@gamefishinghub.com.au

Captain Eddy Lawler from Peak Sport Fishing has reported really good fishing in the last week with plenty of Sail Fish and Black Marlin on the inshore fishing grounds and still they are still seeing good numbers of Blue Marlin out wide.

Eddy fished Todd Mestrevic and Luke Norton from Victoria the last few days and got stuck into plenty of Sail Fish and got a nice Blue Marlin out wide. Both Todd and Luke popper fished each morning getting stuck into great numbers of GT's, Coral Trout, Cod and Red Bass.

Todd Mestrevic landed himself a monster GT, with a 108cm girth and fork length of 136cm. This is what popper fisherman dream of. Todd released this monster GT in great condition. If your interested in fishing in this great location with plenty of options from light tackle catching GT's and all reef species to Sail Fish and Black Marlin to the mighty Blue Marlin contact Eddy Lawler here to book a trip of a life time.

Todd Mestrevic with his monster GT.

Todd and Luke with a beautifull Exmouth Sail Fish.

If you have any reports or photos to share please send to reports@gamefishinghub.com.au

On Thursday, Wicked Weasel, Kestelle and Triton fished the Blue Marlin Car park inside the North Canyons with Wicked Weasel going 5-5-0 (Glenn did not want to talk about it), Kestelle 3-3-2, and Triton 3-2-1. All the activity was in a two mile area.

Word soon got out and on Saturday the best report was Secret Men's Business who went 7-7-2 on a mix of Blue Marlin and Black Marlin, releasing a Black and a Blue Marlin.

Sunday saw a lot of boats out, with Kestelle going 1-1-1 on a Blue Marlin for Elise Currey which was her first. On board the Wicked Weasel, Jarred Flynn got his first and second Blue Marlin of 100 and 130 kilos. This activity was south, between Sawtell and Nambucca, Kanahoee also got a Blue Marlin and lost another one at Nambucca.

Triton was heading south for the Interclub and tagged two Blue Marlin at Nambucca early, then two more from three bites south of there. Plenty of fish were seen and jumped off at the Blue Marlin Car park and North Canyons, but they were a bit doughy. Slimies were top to bottom in places, so they might've been a little full. Rosanna had a four hour fight with a big fish on 24 kilo, which ended with a broken line.

And today, Kestelle has zeroes, and Kanahoee a 1-1-0 with a Blue Marlin falling off after a 400 meter sprint on 80 pound tackle.

Thank you to Glenn Booth for the report and the photo, Glenn tells me he is back out again this Thursday.

If you have any reports or photos to share please send to reports@gamefishinghub.com.au

Brent Higgins and Barry Higgins fished on Walk The Line on Sunday out at the 8 mile going 2 from 3, releasing an 80 pound Black Marlin and a nice Sailfish both caught by Barry Higgins. They jumped another Black off right near the boat also. Brent informed us that there is plenty of bait, pulling full strings of Slimy Mackerel one after another.

Jamie Behrens on board Reel Hunter dropping a small Black Marlin at the back of the boat and had another bait ripped off and Brett Barton and Chris Pullen On Spot On boated a nice Cobia. Things are starting to look good but we heard that 2 long liners were seen late on the grounds. Brent sent in a video he put together of his half days fishing below.

If you have any reports or photos to share please send to reports@gamefishinghub.com.au

All Australian tournaments can be found in our tournament calendar and flyers/entry forms can be downloaded where available. Tournaments on this weekend and into next week are as follows and results will be available after completion where available.

Australia:

'Little Ship Club Haines Group Classic', Dunwich, QLD, Feb 17 - 19

'Luhrs Billfish Shootout', Port Stephens, NSW, Feb 18 - 19

'Victorian Gamefish Classic', Rhyll, Phillip Island, VIC, Feb 18 - 19

International:

'S.A.D.S.A.A. Billfish Classic', Richards Bay, SOUTH AFRICA, Feb 21- 25

If you have any tournaments you would like us to include in our weekly list or the tournament calendar please send the details to reports@gamefishinghub.com.au

Final results for the 11^th Annual Open Tournament - The tournament started with a hitch when the briefing had to be abandoned on Friday night due to a power blackout at the Bowling Club but finsihed with some great results for the Shell Harbour Game Fishing Club. Congratulations to all top place winners in this years tournament and to all that fished. Below are the final results for this years 2012 Shell Harbour Open Tournament.

Capture Results.
Champion Boat: (Horse) – 7839 Points
Heaviest Marlin: Craig Hort (Horse) 143Kg Blue Marli
Heaviest Shark: Russel Emms (Grey Hounder) 351Kg Tiger Shark
Heaviest Other Game Fish: Craig Tuohy (Reckless) 16.2Kg Mahi Mahi
Most Meritorious Capture: Russel Emms (Grey Hounder) 351Kg Tiger Shark – 11,807 Points
Champion Male Angler: Russel Emms (Grey Hounder) - 11,807 Points

Tag & Release Results.
Champion Boat: (Dads Boat) – 34,500 Points
Most Marlin Tagged By A Boat: (Dad’s Boat) 3 Marlin
First Marlin Tagged: Damien McLeod (Dad’s Boat)
Most Sharks Tagged By A Boat: (Grey Hounder) 2 Sharks
Champion Other Game Fish: Grant Hartley (Argus) – 259 Points
Champion Male Angler: Russel Emms (Grey Hounder) - 15,500 Points
Highest Tag Points Junior: Dylan Jackson (Ridgey Didge) – 2,300 Points
Highest Tag Points Small Fry: Aaron Goodger (U3) – 38 Points